China - 3G

China 3G deployment to benefit TSMC and UMC

China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom have begun their deployment of 3G networks and expect to begin operations before June. The China government forecasts to see 50 million 3G subscribers before the end of this year, generating 170 billion RMB (US$24.87 billion) in 3G FPGA chip sales, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

The three telecommunication service providers have placed orders at 3G base station companies recently, with Huawei and ZTE taking up more than half of the orders. Demand for FPGA chips for 3G base stations is picking up, according to Xilinx and Altera. Both companies will, as a result, increase orders to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), said the report.

The China government expects the 3G subscriber-base to top 150-200 million in three years, the report added.